Computers have user accounts. Many Android phones and tablets let several people — or several sides of one person — have their own profile. iPhone does not.
An iPhone has one user, and no setting adds a second profile. Here is what Apple offers instead, and how to get most of the way there.
Why iPhone has no multiple users
iPhone is designed as a personal device: one Apple Account, one passcode, one set of Face ID data. Apple’s multi-user mode for this family of devices is Shared iPad, and it is for schools and businesses that manage their iPads. It is not available on iPhone.
The “profile” features iOS does have
| Feature | What it separates | What it does not |
|---|---|---|
| Safari profiles (iOS 17+) | Cookies, history, tabs and favourites per profile | Anything outside Safari; there is no lock |
| Focus | Which apps, people and Home Screen pages you see | Data and sign-ins |
| Account switching in apps | Accounts inside that one app | Everything else |
| Screen Time and Guided Access | What someone else can use | Your own data from each other |
| Managed work apps | Company-managed apps and data | Your personal data, which stays separate by design |
If you share an iPhone with someone
- Guided Access keeps the phone inside one app while someone else uses it — a child with a game, a guest with the browser. Turn it on in Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access, open the app, then triple-click the side button.
- Screen Time limits apps and content for a child.
- Locked and hidden apps (iOS 18) keep individual apps behind Face ID.
For a family, Apple’s answer is still a device per person, with Family Sharing to share purchases and subscriptions between them.
If you want a second profile for yourself
When “multiple users” really means a work you and a personal you, what you need is separate sign-ins and separate data, not a second person:
- Safari profiles give you a second set of web logins. What Safari profiles actually separate explains the limits.
- A Work Focus changes what the phone shows and who can reach you.
- Separate Spaces hold a whole side at once: web accounts, notes and photos together. How to separate work and personal on one iPhone shows how they fit together.
A second profile with SideSpace
SideSpace is the closest thing to a second profile you can install on an iPhone. Each Space has:
- its own web sessions and pinned web apps, so services are signed in separately in each;
- a browser with its own tabs and history;
- its own notes, photos and videos, kept out of your Photos library;
- and, with SideSpace Premium, the option to be Private — unlisted until you unlock it with Face ID or a passcode.
It is not a system user: native apps, Settings and your Apple Account are still shared by the phone. But for the web accounts and the material that make up a “profile”, each Space is one. The free version keeps one Space; Premium adds as many as you need.
Short answers
Can you have two users on one iPhone? No. iPhone supports a single user.
Can I add a second profile on iPhone? Not system-wide. Safari profiles separate browsing, and an app like SideSpace separates web accounts, notes and photos.
Does iPhone have a guest mode? No, but Guided Access keeps a guest inside one app.
Can two people use Face ID on one iPhone? Face ID can learn an alternate appearance, but it unlocks the same phone, with the same data, for both.